Why 24 Hours Is Always Enough

If you feel you don’t have enough time, ask yourself: If your day had four extra hours, would it be enough? Be honest. I think the answer is pretty obvious. If 24 hours feel insufficient, 28 hours will feel no better. It is not the number of hours that matter...

There’s No Free Lunch in Life

I have had three pretty different careers, but every single time I realised one thing — there is no free lunch. In my first job with the civil services, everything was secure and predictable. The government gave me all the resources, legal authority, firepower,...

Earning Respect That Lasts a Lifetime

A few weeks ago, I called a former boss of mine (the then Director General of Police, Kerala) to wish him a happy new year — he is nearing 80 and is not keeping very good health. This officer was the most draconian disciplinarian to have headed Kerala police. In...

Focus on the Problem, Not the Competition

In my startup journey, I learned more from one particular 5-minute video than from dozens of books and podcasts — this video is that of Dropbox’s founder Drew Houston. When Drew was fundraising for Dropbox, he met a VC, who asked, “There are already...

Leadership Means Deciding Without Complete Data

A colleague of mine at McKinsey used to once work at Capital One, an extremely data-driven company. It was understandable that a fintech company would love data but even their senior management took decisions off spreadsheets. And sometimes, it led them in the wrong...